Ticking time bombs within the Human-Earth system

Australia and the world are locking in massive investments in fossil fuels in contradiction to the need for emergency action on climate change, thereby grossly overvaluing companies with fossil fuel reserves, speakers will tell the Ticking time bombs in the Human-Earth system conference in Canberra next week.

Organised by the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for Earth System Science, the conference being held on 26-27 November at the Shine Dome in Canberra will focus on several key issues in the human-earth system that require urgent attention:

• The carbon investment bubble – including fossil fuel investments by fund management executive Garry Weaven
• Polar deglaciation and sea level rise – particularly its human impact by oceanographer Dr John Hunter
• Sustainability of the Great Barrier Reef – including loss of reef diversity and its implications by coral reefs expert Professor Terry Hughes
• Global food security in the long term – including the impact of eating by the average person on the planet by science author Julian Cribb

An online briefing on the mismatch between current investment in fossil fuels and the scientific knowledge about climate change is being held tomorrow, Friday 23 November at 10.30 am AEDT with the Australian Science Media Centre.

Tune in to https://aussmc.webex.com/aussmc/onstage/g.php?d=868063771&t=a to interview policy expert Ian Dunlop, climate scientist Professor David Karoly, Garry Weaven and renewable energy researcher Patrick Hearps.

The Outlook conference coincides with the officers meeting of the International Geosphere Biosphere program, which represents at least 70 member countries, also being held for the first time at Australian Academy of Science next week.